Description: You can park at the shopping center and then just head east.Comments: Another great ride. Average grade is 6.7%.Distance:
9.20 miles (one way)GPS track log: Here (right click and select "Save Target As")Total Elevation Gain: 2721 feetElevation Profile:

Interactive route map: (colors indicate relative elevation):

User Ratings

This is another classic Salt Lake ride. It's beautiful, challenging and fun. Grades are about half way between Emigration and Big Cottonwood.Posted Sep. 24, 2006 by Joe

More challenging than Emigration or City Creek. More steep but less miles than Big Cottonwood. Nicely shaded throughout the last 2/3rds of the ride. Narrow above Devil's elbow, but cars have always been cooperative in my experience.Posted Sep. 26, 2006 by spinprincess96

this is a great ride with awesome false flats and steep climbs. the worst time to do this ride is prior to july 1st. The upper section of the road is closed and often has debris on it from the winter thaw, also since the road is closed to cars people walk on all sides of the road and have dogs off leash frequentlyPosted Aug. 06, 2007 by alibikeguygrannygear

Nice ride. Shady, well maintained, and places to stop for water. It was my first time riding it today, and I will add it to my regulars. Traffic thinned out quite a bit after a while, with cars pulling into various picnic areas. A fun descent and not quite as treacherous as some in the area. Might turn out to be my favorite.Posted Jul. 24, 2007 by Aloyzius

Another great ride. The climbs are usually accompanied by a flat or downhill section following, that allow for some recovery. An advantage in going before July 1st, is that the upper part of the canyon is closed to automobile traffic (Last 4 miles or so).Posted Jul. 20, 2007 by TrekGuy

Wastes no time getting to the climb. Adequately shaded, nice stream sounds and piney scent above Elbow. Good road- no holes & gravel-as in Emmigration. Watch for vehicles and desenders. Be sure to STOP at the fee station! Bikes have no fee- only req. to stop. Overall- one of the best within the city reaches.Posted Jun. 26, 2007 by Flatpedalgranny

Nice ride. Good training as has several good flats to allow for rest & recovery. Gate still closed so careful with road debris on downhill! (06/06/08)Posted Jun. 11, 2008 by Tk

Dangerous ride! The road is narrow in many sections, especially on some curves in the road. Car drivers tend to be surprisingly aggressive and/or inattentive to the risks facing cyclist along this route. They will pass cyclists on dangerous, tight turns, often despite oncoming traffic, leaving cyclists little or no shoulder. As a result, cars often brush past within a foot or two. And there is a lot of traffic from Spring to Fall. The ride is spectacularly beautiful, and would be one of the best rides in SLC but for the horrific traffic.Posted Apr. 23, 2009 by OldButFit

Sweet Ride! A long but steady climb with flat recover points in all the right places. I find going early in the morning is the best time to go, COOLER & LESS TRAFFIC! All in all a super fun ride.Posted Aug. 27, 2009 by Willy SL2

Safe Ride! One of the safest rides in the SLC area. No thru traffic 30 mph speed limits, can't compare to other canyons for being safe. Try it...if you feel its unsafe then sell your bike.Posted Jun. 02, 2010 by OldButtFat

What more can you say, just an awesome ride. However I rode it today (6/19/10) and to be honest I've never seen so many cars and dogs running off their leashes above the gate. There was also a good amount of rubbish on the road above the elbow fork area.Posted Jun. 19, 2010 by Sunny Jim

Good climb that has a few steeper pitches, but most of the time you are able to find the sweet spot in your gears to spin this out to the top. Gate still closed for a few more days but careful for dogs off leash above gate on the descent. Ride after elbow is the best.Posted Jun. 28, 2010 by TPOre

Awesome ride. More difficult than I expected. The last mile is significantly steeper than the rest of the ride, which makes for a nice challenge. I'm a decent rider and by no means a climber (225 pounds), so this was pretty tough. Shady and cool. The roads at the top are narrow and can make for a sketchy descent at first, but after that it is fast. You'll easily hit 40 or higher, without even pedaling, but with the great surface and wide turns it's no problem. Very fun.Posted Aug. 07, 2010 by Johnny John Jon Johnson

Good ride with some nice climbing, will test your early season legs but its a very popular canyon - read lots of traffic, small shoulder and lots of pot holes in the road. If you can get there before most of the day campers and traffic its a great ride but when the canyon's full, I'd rather go somewhere else. Small shoulders, frequent road hazzards (holes, gravel, etc) and lots of traffic mean crashes.Posted Aug. 09, 2011 by nac

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL RIDE!!! I just moved here from Phoenix (flat and brown) in December, and have been riding all over this place since April. So far, this is the most incredible sensory experience yet. The canyon is incredibly green and the creek runs along side the whole way. The best time to go, I think, is first thing in the morning during the week. This morning I may have seen 5 cars total...which makes for a nice ride down :) Great, challenging ride!!Posted Jul. 13, 2011 by Nate CAAD10

Fantastic ride! It gets fairly busy on the weekends especially if it is a holiday. Up to the gate, it is fairly moderate. After the gate, the ride gets more challenging with short steep sections and a more sustained incline. It is a very safe and fun ride! Harder than city creek and emigration, but not as hard as the cottonwoods.Posted Aug. 28, 2011 by greg

Nice ride, surprizingly steep. Riding up I liked that its so narrow and tucked away, feels cozy. Riding down was rather bad: too narrow to me so I had to break a lot. No space for mistakes while taking the turns.. Heavy traffic, people in their huge SUVs have no idea how wide their cars are, so while overtaking riders they dont leave enough space for oncoming ones - or as its so narrow they have already started to overtaken when I have suddenly appeared. The surface of the road felt much rougher than BCC, not pleasant. Still, a good place to escape the heat.Posted Aug. 29, 2011 by Mike

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